At the end of another week (or fifteen – but who’s counting?) you might want to lean on someone. You might need to rest. How will you rest on God’s arms this weekend? Will you walk in nature? Will you take a nap? Will you join Sunday’s streaming service? Will you pray or sing?
… is not easy. This guy chewed through the birdseed container and was having a FEAST. But he was so pleased with himself and seemed to be praising the Lord for the abundance he had found. There is abundance around all of us, too. Where do you see it? What can you share?
We had some critical feedback and it was this: you need more chickens in your videos. This pullet hatched just as we went into the stay-at-home time. She’ll start laying eggs in August or September and then we’ll call her a hen. She lives outside in a nice coop but when I asked if any birds wanted to come inside the people house to play and sing a song, she volunteered. Then she pooped on me. Life is messy. Sometimes it stinks.
What are the stinky parts of your life right now? What makes you laugh?
Some days, it feels like Time is not moving at all and then we realize the school year is over and summer is here and the days turn to night and the sun rises every morning and the days go by really fast.
What are your favorite moments in the day? What makes you stop and turn? What causes you to pay attention to the world around you? Send us pictures you’ve drawn. Send us video. Send us thoughts you have as the day turns to dusk and dawn turns to day. We would love to share them.
When we light the candles in Children’s Chapel, we remember that Jesus is the Light of the World. When we can’t see the path – when we’re unsure which way to go – we look for Jesus to lead us forward.
We’ve been together-while-apart through Lent, Easter, Pentecost and now into the Green, Growing Season (Ordinary Time).
We started staying-home in Winter. Then it was Spring. Now – with the Solstice – we’re in Summer.
Don’t be discouraged!
We have shared songs and prayers and Lego movies. We have danced. We have mourned. And now we are HERE. God has been with us every day. God is with us NOW, just like God was with us in the chapel last year.
There’s a public art display being painted on a bus stop in Chapel Hill that depicts the musician Elizabeth (Libba) Cotton.
“I’m so glad” is a song Libba Cotton sang and recorded. She’s most famous, though, for a song called “Freight Train.” She wrote it about the train that runs through Carrboro. Lots of other musicians recorded “Freight Train” after she did.
Libba Cotton taught herself to play guitar. She was left-handed so she played her guitar “backwards” (compared to right-handed players) and upside down. You can make music lots of ways! The artist who painted the bus stop might not have known that. But the artist painted on glass so you can step behind the bus stop to see how Libba Cotton really held her guitar.
We tried a sweet and peaceful song yesterday and it didn’t go so well. (Greg disagrees about yesterday’s song but) Boykin googled and found something she thinks is better, especially during this time when we’re at home.
These days at home can be long. They can be hard. They can also be soft and tender.
It’s a mighty tall order. And it’s not Boykin’s favorite song. Let’s see how it goes.
In the words of Junie B. Jones (a great series of books if you haven’t read them!), I (that’s Boykin) felt pretty slumpy today. I’m tired of being at home all the time, it’s raining (again) and I miss my friends. I miss my church. So I looked for something to cheer me up.
I felt a little better after watching that. Sometimes looking back nudges you forward. So I looked for something else. This is a piano in Montreal. It was just there, waiting for someone (or two people) to play it.
“Ok,” (I said to my phone), “What else ya got?” AND NOW I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!
When you feel slumpy, what do you remember? What encourages you?